Irrigation minister Hossam Moghazi returns home from Khartoum

Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Hossam Moghazi returned Friday home from Khartoum after taking part in meetings of eastern Nile Basin countries, comprised of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.
The meetings tackled the dossier of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Moghazi described the outcome of the meetings as positive, pointing to an agreement on principles of sharing Nile water, as well as the establishment of the renaissance dam.
Moghazi, along with his Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts, took part in the national tripartite committee meeting on the Renaissance Dam, which also grouped 12 experts from the three countries, to review the technical and financial bids introduced by four international consultancy offices on the under-construction Ethiopian dam.
The winning consultancy firm will be announced on March 9 to conduct two studies on water and the environment, Moghazi said, adding the contract will be signed in Addis Ababa.
The three countries agreed on a mechanism for operating the Ethiopian dam and cooperating at the political level.
The talks, which started in Khartoum on Tuesday, focused on sharing the Nile River water between the three countries and resolving a dispute over a hydroelectric dam being built by Addis Ababa.